Thirty years ago, Mothers Against Drunk Driving made drunk driving socially unacceptable; yet from 2007 to 2011, more than 1,750 lives were lost because a driver in Georgia made the wrong choice to drink and drive. It’s time for Georgia to join the growing list of states requiring all convicted drunk drivers to use an ignition interlock device. This is a key recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Last week, the NTSB also recommended lowering the blood alcohol content limit from 0.08 to 0.05. But a lower BAC limit is just one factor in a difficult puzzle to reduce drunk-driving crashes, injuries and fatalities. Like the NTSB, MADD is concerned about the toll drunk driving has had on our roads, representing roughly a third of all highway deaths. MADD believes our Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, launched in 2006, is the best solution to save the most lives as soon as possible.
This comprehensive, multi-faceted campaign is based on research, endorsements from organizations such as the NTSB, and grassroots efforts across the country. The success of the campaign is seen in countermeasures in use today, such as high-visibility enforcement, legislative goals for tomorrow — ignition interlocks for all offenders in every state — and a Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety to eliminate drunk driving entirely. The campaign is based on the .08 BAC limit. When fully implemented, it is expected to save 8,000 lives per year.
As a victim and the national president of MADD, I am proud of the campaign’s success. Since 2006, we have passed some form of ignition-interlock legislation in every state; most importantly, 18 states have passed ignition-interlock laws for all drunk-driving offenders at 0.08 or greater. More than 100 million Americans are now protected by these laws, which have reduced drunk-driving deaths by more than 30 percent in many states. Congress fully codified our campaign as part of federal legislation to reauthorize the nation’s highway programs known as MAP-21.
MADD believes the safest course of action is to never drink and drive. The most effective legislation to save lives in Georgia is for lawmakers to focus their attention on dealing with the entire drunk-driving problem and requiring ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers. (Only repeat offenders in Georgia must use them now.)
Yes, the proposed House Bill 671 would require ignition interlocks for first-time convicted drunk drivers with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or greater. But is a 0.15 BAC interlock law good enough for Georgia’s families? The answer is no.
MADD asks lawmakers to amend HB 671 in 2014 to require ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers with an illegal blood alcohol content of 0.08 or greater. Then, we will see the day when we there will no longer be drunk driving victims in Georgia and across the country.
There is so much to lose and even more to gain with full implementation of the campaign. It is the right way, the only way, to fully rid our county of the drunk driver.
Jan Withers is national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
